Summer Child
by catchingdragons
Summary: Ginny absolutely loved her birthdays at the beach.


**Happy Birthday Ginny Weasley!**

* * *

 _August 11th 2000_

When Ginny was little, before she started Hogwarts and everything went awry for a while, her parents would always take their whole family to the beach for her birthday. It didn't cost much and yet everyone had fun. The weather was usually well enough to go swimming and Molly always served up a huge picnic with ice-cream and cake and iced tea and sweets. Ginny and her brothers would have contests in throwing sticks or digging holes or doing handstands in the water and her brothers would always let her win at least once as a birthday treat. Arthur usually brought a muggle game he picked up at work to try out. Ginny absolutely loved her birthdays at the beach.

But her brothers left for Hogwarts one by one, or two in case of George and Fred, and eventually didn't come along to the beach for her birthday. Bill left for Egypt just after Ginny turned 8 and then Charlie left them shortly before her 10th birthday, both missing her 11th birthday all together. It wasn't long until Ginny started school as well and when Hogwarts didn't initially turn out to be everything she had dreamed it would be – when she nearly died in her first year – Ginny was happy for a change of surroundings during the summer of her twelfth birthday. The holiday in Egypt was balm on her traumatized twelve-year-old soul, if nothing else because the family was whole and she had all her brothers close by.

The Weasleys didn't return to the beach for Ginny's birthday after that summer.

.

The morning of Ginny's 19th birthday wasn't much different to any other Friday since she became a Harpy not quite a year ago. Fridays were either match days or the day before a match, so training was usually lazy or dropped entirely, but as reserve player Ginny was still expected to do her strength training in the morning, join all other players for the slow midmorning run around Holyhead stadium and then go through routines with the Chasing coach.

Like most Fridays after a long week of training, Ginny spends a good part of her afternoon napping. She barely made it out of the fireplace at her parents' place, calling out a greeting to her mum in the kitchen, before falling dead tired into one of the sofas and dozing off.

When her mum wakes her, a tea in hand and a smile on her lips, Ginny wants to kiss the brilliant woman that is her mother. The Burrow smells heavenly, like cake and dinner at the same time, there's a present sitting on the coffee table and Ginny can make out the voices of Andromeda and Teddy in the kitchen.

"Open it, go on." It's a swimsuit. Before Ginny can quite grasp why her mum would give her a swimsuit for her birthday, Teddy comes barrelling into the room, hair wildly standing from his head in a glorious shade of blue.

"Get up! We go to the beach!" The little canon ball rams into her and Ginny can't even press a kiss to his head before he's off again, excitedly rambling to his Gran Molly and Grandma Andi about the water, and the sand and everything and anything.

They spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach by Shell Cottage where the sun is shining mercilessly down on them. The occasional sea breeze drifts over to Ginny's towel-bed and cools her enough to not die from heatstroke and the waves are almost lulling her back to sleep with their rhythmic rush against the sand.

Next to Ginny, Hermione is studiously reapplying her sun-block every hour. Watching her ever thorough friend, Ginny can't help but grin as Hermione lays back onto her towel next to Ginny's, her warm amber skin lathered thickly with white lotion. Hermione simply kicks her friend in response. "You could use another layer as well."

"I'm fine. My skin is never going to be anything but milky white." While that isn't necessarily true – her fair skin burns rather quickly - Ginny is entirely too comfortable to move an inch. Before she closes her eyes again, Ginny catches the disapproving look Hermione sends her way. Less than a minute passes before she can feel Hermione casting a sunscreen charm on her.

On Hermione's left, Fleur and Andromeda are engrossed in a conversation about nappies and swaddling and how to get new babies through the summer heat, which would be enough to send anyone into a coma of boredom. Every now and again, Ginny tries to listen in on the conversation, but she is much too relaxed to think about rashes and sweat and boobs.

Just a bit down the beach from them, Luna is helping Teddy build a sand igloo. The two have been constructing the sand building for almost two hours – longer than Teddy has ever concentrated on anything ever, Ginny reckons – and are almost done with it. Ginny is pretty sure Luna hasn't even used her wand once and not for the first time, Ginny envies Luna her patience.

Behind Ginny, Molly is walking up and down, little Victoire in her arms. The giant lilac sunhat her mum wears is protecting both her and the baby as Molly seems to be singing a Polyhymnia Fletcher song to the baby, one of Ginny's favourites when she was little.

When her brothers arrive one after another, except for Ron and Harry who are off on a mission for Kingsley that night, Molly and Arthur serve them a feast of a picnic with ice-cream and cake and iced tea and sweets for dessert. After dinner, Charlie and George start a bonfire and Hermione plays Old Maid with Arthur. Victoire and Teddy are happily snoozing between the adults, not even waking when Ginny and her brothers start a game of Quodpod by the water.

It's almost midnight before they leave the beach, exhausted and happy and Ginny can't help but think there's worst ways to spend one's 19th birthday.

* * *

 _A little something for my favourite woman of the series :)_

 _I've been gone foreveeeeeer, I know. I'm giving my all to upload another piece soon, then for the Teddy/Ginny fic again I promise.._

 _So, propmts? Thoughts? Love? All appreciated._

 _I do not own a thing. Except a very nice pair of new shoes. Go figure._

 _Love, CD ❤︎_


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